Peaches and True Doctrine

This blog is in answer to the concerns I hear from others /myself about things being taught by well-intentioned members and widely accepted in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that are hurtful, incomplete, and untrue, leading to many people to have shaken faith, painful misunderstanding, and even messed up relationships.

Instagram, Pinterest, and Target pre-designed decorative wall art are all chock-full of pithy quotes, cutesy encouragement about therapy-esque tips, and cheerful sayings. I've re-posted more than my fair share and have a few favorites:

Among the Latter-day Saints, there are plenty of these share-able/postable sayings, some are summarized scripture, or from a BYU professor, EFY counselor, said by a bishop in a personal interview, or shared by a therapist who is a member of the church. While I tend to assume all of these were said or written with the intent to share the Gospel and lift others' spirits, I see people put too much stock into the interpretation of other member's perspective of the Gospel. There are things taught in church or by members or posted by LDS therapists, even put in the Liahona magazine or spoken at a BYU devotional that can and have been wrong, incomplete, and well-intentioned but overly-permissive or -condemning.

This is not a new phenomenon, I think members have been mis-representing the Gospel by over simplifying and over-complicating it for decades. I've heard of horrible Law of Chastity object lessons and foot-in-mouth moments over the pulpit in church, and then these things get quoted and re-taught to another group, in another country, or passed down to another generation, and turning it into practice.

I know myself and others can and do teach and accept and dogmatize things about God, the plan of Salvation, and the Atonement that actually aren’t true, and what I realize as I grow is that I am happiest and feel closest to God when I stop worrying about all these other sources of “truth” and go directly to the scriptures. The doctrine found in the standard works and taught in the temple is the most pure, powerful, and direct connection we can have to God and the message remains consistent (modified over time for simplification and clarification in the temple).

More than any Instagram post, sound byte, out-of-context quote, or whatever else, spending time in the actual scriptures and not someone else’s interpretation of an interpretation is the purest and most guaranteed way to truly learn God's character and plan.

In the words of Justin Bieber—“I get my peaches out in Georgia, I get my weed from California, I get my life right from the source" and I like to get my doctrine from God through prophets, modern and LOTS of ancient. No family member, bishop, or any other person needs to be in between me and a Spirit- filled study and understanding of pure doctrine. The only thing that can get in the way is our level of attention and sensitivity to the Spirit, and our willingness to follow what we learn.

I am grateful for my knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My faith in him gives me a sustaining level of peace that everything is gonna work out, and a hope that things are going to work out in a way that will be happy and beneficial. My understanding of God's plan and role in my life, prayer, miracles, grace and other facets of the Gospel help me every day. I hope we can all remember to keep degrees of separation between us and God to a minimum, so we can learn the doctrine in its purest form and let that be the guide to our life and behaviors..